Can't win? Change the rules. Democrats show their true colors.

[dario73]

Reid, Democrats trigger ‘nuclear’ option; eliminate most filibusters on nominees

By Paul Kane, Updated: Thursday, November 21, 1:33 PM
The partisan battles that have paralyzed Washington in recent years took a historic turn Thursday, as Senate Democrats eliminated filibusters for most presidential nominations, severely curtailing the political leverage of the Republican minority in the Senate and assuring an escalation of partisan warfare.

The rule change means that federal judge nominees and executive-office appointments can be confirmed by a simple majority of senators, rather than the 60-vote supermajority that has been required for more than two centuries.

The change does not apply to Supreme Court nominations. But the vote, mostly along party lines, reverses nearly 225 years of precedent and dramatically alters the landscape for both Democratic and Republican presidents, especially if their own political party holds a majority of, but fewer than 60, Senate seats.

[See the latest updates.]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) accused Democrats of a power grab and suggested that they will regret their decision if Republicans regain control of the chamber.

“We’re not interested in having a gun put to our head any longer,” McConnell said. “Some of us have been around here long enough to know that the shoe is sometimes on the other foot.” McConnell then addressed Democrats directly, saying: “You may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”

He added later: “The solution to this problem is at the ballot box. We look forward to having a great election in 2014.”

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned Democrats against the rule change on Wednesday, saying that if the GOP reclaimed the Senate majority, Republicans would further alter the rules to include Supreme Court nominees, so that Democrats could not filibuster a Republican pick for the nation’s highest court.

Reacting to Republican criticism after the vote, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called the move “a huge step in the right direction” and denied that it somehow broke Senate rules.

“The Senate broke no rules,” he said in a floor speech. “We simply used the rules to make sure that the Senate could function and that we could get our nominees through.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-poised-to-limit-filibusters-in-party-line-vote-that-would-alter-centuries-of-precedent/2013/11/21/d065cfe8-52b6-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_print.html

[headhuntersix]

THis is all Obama..he knows the end is near.  Reid is a piece of shit....

[Dos Equis]

Sinking ship.  Really smacks of desperation.  I don't like what McConnell did with the shutdown (scoring an earmark), but he's right:  Democrats are going to regret this if they lose the Senate next year. 

Going to be a flurry of nominees between now and the end of December 2014. 

[Soul Crusher]

These democrat communist thugs are only going to make it that much worse for them next year. 


Democrat = Communist and Beach  - yes your so called "smart friends" are thinly veiled communists if they support this nonsense

[headhuntersix]

 McConnell's Rebuttal: If I Were Responsible For Obamacare's Path Of Destruction, I'd Change The Subject Too."

 
Think about it: The Majority Leader promised over and over again that he wouldn’t break the rules of the Senate in order to change them. On July 14 he went on ‘Meet the Press’ and he said: ‘We’re not touching judges.’
“He may as well just have said ‘If you like the rules of the Senate you can keep them.’

McConnell is on fire.....

[dario73]

Some people have called Levin a nutjob. But this action clearly supports his point of view that what the dumocrats represent is TYRANNY.

They are responsible for the bad feeling and lack of cooperation between the parties since the time they forced crapcare right down the throat of the GOP and the nation. Comments like the president saying that republicans "can come for the ride but thay have to sit in the back" clearly show that the Democratic party NEVER, EVER, under this "president", had the intention of reaching across the aisle. Now that they can't handle the very environment they created, they now take away the ability of the minority to filibuster.

This is not how it should be.

What goes around, comes around. I hope you libtards don't cry when the GOP has control of the Senate and shove every single conservative nominee and legislation down your throat. I didn't want to see it come to this but the fact is NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO CRITICIZE the GOP for doing the same thing, since the dems are the originators of this precedent.

[Dos Equis]

George Will: Filibuster Change Could Lead to Repeal of ObamaCare
By Noel Sheppard | November 21, 2013

Democrats in the Senate Thursday invoked the nuclear option changing how the filibuster applies to presidential appointments.

On Fox News’s Special Report hours after the vote, George Will said this could lead to the repeal of ObamaCare in 2017 (video follows with transcript and commentary):

GEORGE WILL: There’s no limiting principle in the principle they’re invoking, that is majorities should rule all the time. What this means is if in the spring of 2017 there’s a Republican president, which there could be, the Republicans still hold the House, and they have 51 Senators, they can repeal ObamaCare with 51 votes. And I'm not sure the people who did this today have thought this through.
No, they certainly haven’t.

If these Democrats and their media minions don’t realize that the change invoked by the Democrats – which is currently limited to presidential appointments with the exception of Supreme Court justices – will expand over time, they’re kidding themselves.

What Democrats with seemingly the full support of the liberal media have done is permanently changed the rules of the Senate allowing the majority to do whatever it wants.

Although this might lead to positive things for Republicans at some time in the future – such as the repeal of ObamaCare – this is a sad day for our nation when 52 Senators decide to rewrite how that Chamber works.

Shame on them and shame on all those in the media who think this is a good thing.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/11/21/george-will-filibuster-change-could-lead-repeal-obamacare#ixzz2lKYRR9bc

[SCRUBS]

They will be whining like the hypocrites they are if they lose control of the senate.

[240 is Back]

These democrat communist thugs are only going to make it that much worse for them next year. 

Do you predict repubs own house AND senate after 2014 elections?

[Tedim]

Soon the ballot box will be replaced by the cartridge box....

[Shockwave]

Lol.... can't do what we want? Fuck you we'll just change it.

I feel like more power grabs have happened in the last couple years than in the last fucking century.

[chadstallion]

its all ok.
the minute the senate loses the majority and before the actual new reps come into power the dems will vote and change it back.

[Shockwave]

its all ok.
the minute the senate loses the majority and before the actual new reps come into power the dems will vote and change it back.

Lol, epic laughs were had by all.

And not a single fuck was given by the Femocrats.

[Soul Crusher]

Democrat = Communist

[Shockwave]

Democrat = Communist

Femocrat = Communist feminist slut whore.

[Soul Crusher]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/21/top-democrats-hated-the-nuclear-option-before-they-were-for-it



Unreal how dishonest these communist hacks are

[dario73]

Do you predict repubs own house AND senate after 2014 elections?

Never ceases to amaze me how short sighted some people are.

Does it have to be 2014? It can be at anytime from now until earth ceases to exist. It doesn't have to be the Republicans. Maybe in time another party is formed and manages to gain control of the Senate. A new precedent is set that really, has no limitations. Today, it doesn't include supreme court justices. In time it might expanded to include supreme court appointees and it might even include legislations. This is a very bad precedent.

I think this is a major mistake by the desperate democrats. It is not a matter of if, but when it comes back to haunt them.

[dario73]

Welcome to Venezuela.

[dario73]

Flip flopper galore!

Oh, not  flip flopping. He just evolved.

"As long as I'm the leader, the answer is NO, I THINK WE SHOULD FORGET THAT (nuclear option)"

[ Invalid YouTube link ]

[dario73]

He was against it, before he was for it?

Say it ain't so.

[dario73]

"What they don't expect is for one party, be it republican or democrat, to change the rules of the game so that they can make all the decisions while the other party is told to sit down and keep quiet."

"... if the majority choose to end the filibuster, if they choose to change the rules and put and end to democratic debate, then the fighting and the bitterness and the gridlock will only get worse. Now I understand that republicans are getting a lost of pressure to do this from faction outside the chamber."

–Sen. Barack Obama, 2005

[Soul Crusher]

"What they don't expect is for one party, be it republican or democrat, to change the rules of the game so that they can make all the decisions while the other party is told to sit down and keep quiet."

"... if the majority choose to end the filibuster, if they choose to change the rules and put and end to democratic debate, then the fighting and the bitterness and the gridlock will only get worse. Now I understand that republicans are getting a lost of pressure to do this from faction outside the chamber."

–Sen. Barack Obama, 2005

Sounds just like nixon - its not illegal when the president does it.

[dario73]

Why stop at district judge nominees? Now a dem wants it to include legislation.

In time the minority will not be able to filibuster supreme court nominees.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/191086-harkin-calls-for-more-rule-changes

After the Senate voted to change filibuster rules Thursday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called for more reforms.

“This has been escalating for a long period of time and it was time to stop it and that’s what we did this morning,” Harkin said. “Now we need to take it a step farther and change the filibuster rules on legislation.”

Harkin said he’d support further rule changes that would prevent a single senator from blocking legislation and protect minority rights by allowing for germane amendment votes.

[chadstallion]

thats how politics work.
if you're the minority you bitch about the majority.
it will all even out when the gop gets in charge.

[JOHN MATRIX]

Soon the ballot box will be replaced by the cartridge box....